Rivers of Blood still wounds me. But I understand why my white family supported Enoch Powell

April 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech. A proposal has been made to erect a blue plaque to honour him in WolverhamptonCredit:
PA Wire

My white mother is the daughter of a Wolverhampton steel worker. My black father is an immigrant from Nigeria. So when – over at my parents’ house last Sunday – the conversation turned to Enoch Powell, it did feel slightly awkward. This April marks the 50th anniversary of the most controversial speech in British history and Powell’s home city is divided over plans to commemorate him with a blue plaque; the Bishop of Wolverhampton has now added his voice to the opposition.

My parents were also in disagreement at the breakfast table. “He was a principled, scholarly man who cared about those he represented,” was my mum’s sympathetic position. With a dismissing wave of the hand my dad riposted: “What...